Interior Ministry warned about the risks of connecting to public Wi-Fi

Residents of the Bryansk region were warned about four ways to steal personal data and money from bank cards in public places. Fraudsters use fake Wi-Fi networks, fake QR codes, public chargers and Bluetooth. This was reported on November 8 in the Department for Combating Cybercrime of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

One of the threats is connected with open wireless networks in shopping centers, cafes, airports and train stations. Attackers create access points with names similar to the official networks of establishments. Once connected, smartphone traffic can pass through fraudsters’ equipment, which creates a risk of intercepting personal information and credentials.

Another way of cheating is fake QR codes. They are pasted over real ones to redirect the user to a phishing site or a fake payment page. There, criminals are trying to obtain bank details and personal information.

The danger can be represented by public chargers, as well as other people's overbanks. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, through open USB ports, attackers can try to access files on a smartphone. Separately, the department warned about the risks of constantly switched on Bluetooth.

To protect data, experts recommend disabling automatic connection to open Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networks when they are not in use. Also, you should not enter banking applications through the public Internet and connect your phone to unfamiliar chargers.

If the bank card data was entered on a phishing site, you must immediately block the card through the application or the bank hotline. In addition, within 24 hours, a statement of disagreement with the operation should be sent to the bank in accordance with Article 9 of the Federal Law “On the National Payment System”.

Remote fraud remains a problem for the Bryansk region. According to the regional Ministry of Internal Affairs, in one week, 29 residents who suffered from the actions of scammers appealed to the police.

Earlier, the Ministry of Internal Affairs also warned about fraudulent schemes when dating on the Internet. Attackers try to gain the trust of the interlocutor, and then under various pretexts convince him to follow the link and report the code from the SMS.